'Mersal', the Atlee directorial featuring Vijay in the lead role, is emerging as the biggest hit in the actor's career. According to latest updates, the film has minted more than Rs.200 crore worldwide, thus becoming the second Tamil movie to achieve this feat. The only Tamil movie which collected more than Rs.200 Crore was Superstar Rajinikanth's 'Enthiran'. Now, a leading distributor in Tamil Nadu has claimed that the box-office figures of 'Mersal' are fake, and there are no pieces of evidence to prove it.
Bloated box-office figures
The claims regarding the bloated box-office figures of 'Mersal' were made by well-known distributor Abirami Ramanathan. Ramanathan who owns a popular mall too in Chennai, said during an interview given to We Talkies, that most of the collection numbers of 'Mersal' which are coming out are inflated, and it is being done to elevate the hype surrounding the movie. The distributor added that this tactic has been used by filmmakers and producers for a very long time in the Indian film industry.
Abirami Ramanathan made it clear that the producer will be knowing the exact collection figures only after the completion of a movie's theatrical run. As per the distributor, audiences will be more eager to watch a movie which has collected whopping figures from theaters, and this potential is being explored by revealing inflated theatrical revenue, thereby attracting more people to the screens.
The comments made by Abirami Ramanathan has not gone well with Vijay fans. Vijay fans have lashed out against the distributor through Facebook posts, and they believe that Ramanathan has made these comments just for the sake of publicity.
Controversies and protests followed by a mammoth theatrical success
Upon its release, 'Mersal' received positive reviews from critics and audience alike. But the BJP protests triggered the overall hype surrounding the film. In the film, Vijay's character has criticized the policies of the Central Government, including GST and Digital India, which irked some BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu. They even demanded re-censoring of the movie. A section of doctors too lashed out against 'Mersal' claiming that the film has shown them in a bad light.
All these controversies have literally added up the hype of this flick, and finally, the movie has emerged as the highest grossing Vijay film till date.
